Dad
by Belle Walker
Summary: He's not just a guardian...he's a dad.  Harm & Mattie.  Written May 2004.


"No."

"Yes."

_"No."_

"Why not?"

Hands on hips, Harm firmly stared her down. "Because I said so."

_Typical response,_ Mattie thought to herself. "Give me a better reason," she answered stubbornly.

"Because you're only fourteen, and you're _not_ getting a tattoo."

"Mac has one," Mattie argued, as if that made it perfectly okay to get one herself.

"You're not Mac!"

With a giggle, she retorted, "If I _was_ Mac, you'd be in a headlock right now, on your knees and begging for mercy."

"Hah!" Harm scoffed, pulling her in a playful headlock of her own. "That was a low blow," he accused, deliberately messing up her auburn curls with his free hand.

"You're making my hair frizz!" Mattie protested laughingly. "Stop it!"

"No tattoos," he insisted.

"_Yes_, tattoos," Mattie declared through her laughter. "_Lots_ of tattoos!"

"Over my dead body!"

"Okay, I'll be sure to tattoo you when you die," the girl responded impishly, trying in vain to tame her wild mane of curls while still in a headlock.

"That's _not_ what I meant, young lady." Harm gave her hair one final tweak, then began tickling her.

"Ack—no tickling! No!" Mattie gasped helplessly. "Ah—stop! _Daaaad!_"

Her squeal pierced through his mind, bringing with it one startling word that she really hadn't intended for him to hear.

The tickling stopped, and so did the laughter.

Harm released Mattie, and they both took a step back from each other.

He stared at her, the shock evident in his expression. "What did you call me?"

Wide-eyed, Mattie looked up at him. "Uh…'Harm'?" she weakly tried to backpedal her words.

Harm shook his head solemnly. "You called me 'Dad'."

Knowing she couldn't take it back once it was said, Mattie quietly conceded, "I guess I did."_ And you have no idea how nice it felt to call you that._ "Are you mad?" she asked seriously, biting her bottom lip.

"What?" Harm looked down at her in surprise. "Mad? Why would I be mad?"

"Because I'm not really your daughter," she clarified softly. "And you're not really my dad. You're just my guardian...and even _that_ is only temporary."

Their happy, playful moment was gone, replaced abruptly by a mutually sensitive topic.

Harm sighed and sat down on his couch. "I wish it _wasn't_ temporary. I think I could get used to hearing you call me 'Dad'."

Mattie sat down too, fixing her greyish-blue eyes on his face. "Do you really mean that? Or are you just saying it to make me feel better?"

"Of course I mean that." Harm gave a gentle tug to one of the curls framing her face. "Believe it or not, kid, I love having you in my life. I don't want to let you go. Every minute that goes by, I dread the day when your real father is going to come back and prove to the courts that he's capable of looking after you."

Mattie's eyes brightened with the sting of unshed tears. "Let's not talk about that now. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she answered, the tremble in her voice betraying her maturely calm demeanor.

Harm nodded silently, swallowing back his own remorse.

Suddenly wanting desperately to move back to a safer, less emotional discussion, Mattie offered, "Hey, I know where Mac's tattoo is."

Feeling genuine relief at the change of subject, Harm raised an eyebrow. "You've seen it?"

"No, but she told me where it is." Mattie gave an innocently charming smile. "If I tell _you_ where it is, will you let me get one?"

"Maybe," Harm lied in a placating tone.

She eyed him hopefully. "Really?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "I'll think about it."

Seeing that vague answer as better than none at all, Mattie revealed, "It's on her hip."

"Right or left?"

"Left."

_Left hip, huh?_ Harm absorbed this information with silent satisfaction, wondering now if he could get a glimpse of it somehow.

"Now, can I get one?" Mattie prodded.

Harm smiled. "Nope."

"But you said you'd think about it!"

He laughed. "I _did_ think about it, and the answer is still no."

Mattie tried to glare at him—she really did try hard. But the corners of her mouth turned upward in a smile she just couldn't prevent, and her resolve crumbled. "Fine, I won't get one right now. Maybe when I'm older...like next month or so."

Harm chuckled, wrapping his arms around her in a fatherly hug. "In your dreams, Matilda."


End file.
